You may or may not have heard the news: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has grand plans to “rediscover” Captain James Cook by having a replica of the Endeavour circumnavigate the country next year in celebration of the anniversary of his maiden voyage.

According to Morrison, Cook was an enlightened man and although some of the stories of his past are “hard”, some are also “magnificent”. And the Prime Minister, for one, has plans to tell them all.

Now, it’s no surprise this $6.7 million dollar project has been met with some concern. Most notably, there was some confusion surrounding Morrison’s suggestion the replica voyage was a “re-enactment” of Cook’s own journey. The problem with this, of course, is that while Cook chartered the east coast, he did not circumnavigate Australia.

That title belongs to one Matthew Flinders.

According to ABC News, Morrison later cleared up the misunderstanding, stating: “Yes, it does retrace the steps obviously when we go up the east coast, which is what I was referring to this morning.”

Unfortunately, this comment came a little too late – #ThingsCookDid began trending on Twitter, with citizens showing their distaste at the project’s high price tag and slamming the PM with accusations of historical misunderstanding in the best way possible.

Regardless of the truth (classic journalism), the tweets were too hilarious: here’s the best of them for your viewing pleasure:

HISTORY QUIZ:Captain James Cook made 3 voyages and was killed during one of them.Was it voyage 1, 2 or 3?#ThingsCookDid

Cook was the first explorer to fully embrace Climate Change by insisting he only travel in an emission-neutral vehicle powered purely by wind. Many at the time said it simply couldn't be done without coal. #ThingsCookDid

Speaking of the project, Morrison said: “That’ll be great for tourism and it will also be a great opportunity just to talk about our history – the view from the shore, the view from the ship – and very much understanding those two stories.”

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Malcolm

Matt

Saturday 26 January 2019

For services to the Labor Party he should have honorary life membership bestowed on him. More accident prone than Abbott. Bill Shorten probably can’t believe his luck watching the government tear itself apart.
Just watch them Bill, don’t interrupt them while they are busy making mistakes.